Innocence
by Stolen Cookie the Phone Writer
Summary: Project Artemis, the only human experiment ever performed, but classified a failure, set to be termenated. Her only hope is a auburn haired SOLDIER by the name of Genesis.
1. Rebirth

-1Disclaimer….I don't own Genesis or anything to do with him…I do own Artemis. I noticed there is hardly any Genesis stories out there…so I took pity on him and made a plot dealing with him. He's kinda bad in this though…cause I think he is bad, but still I see some kindness in him.

Don't worry, Wolf Blood will be finished…when I get the inspiration back…My muse doesn't like me at all, and decided that she was going to put more ideas in my head.

BTW!! This is a SPOILER FREE fic….even though I know the real reason why Genesis broke ranks during the Wutai war…I'm not going to follow that storyline. Just because I know some of you prefer not to know what happens in Crisis Core before you play it. I might accidentally put a few hints…but that can't be helped…I'm going to try and make this a good story. I prefer to make up my own reason why he went AWOL anyway. So, here it goes.

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Sephiroth had sent him here, to this lab, but what for? These are the things he questioned while standing outside the door to the room of which only women were supposed to go in. Sephiroth had said for him to go here, for a reason unknown. He took out a piece of paper that resided in the inside pocket of his red over coat. It had a few scribbles on it, a couple of doodles here and there, nothing to big. The piece of paper held out coordinates to something and a persons name. Someone that Shinra had been looking for, but couldn't find.

Though he stood there in front of a door, to a lab, where he would use these coordinates. But what kind of machine could single out a persons life force? He would soon find out.

"Okay, this better be worth the time." Genesis pushed a few buttons on a keypad next to the door and heard the lock on it click. He pushed the door open stepping into a room full of women in lab coats. They all looked up when they saw him enter.

"Sir, your not supposed to come in here. This room is strictly off limits to any man." A woman with short red hair practically yelled at him from the far side of the room. He didn't flinch a brow.

"I know this, but I'm afraid that your going to have to deal with it. Being a superior officer, I think I would know these things." he looked down at the woman, who was around 5'2". Her grey eyes widened as she realized who she was speaking too. "Oh, I'm so sorry Sir! I didn't realize who it was." He ignored her looking at the various computers and machines monitoring a heart rate and vital signs of something. His eyes finally settled on the object in the center of the room.

In the center of the room, was a test tube of some sorts. Inside there was a woman, in the fetal position and she was naked. Curled up, the only things helping her breath was a tube going down her throat, and various other instruments attached to her arms and legs. Her brown hair flowing around her head, making her look like an angel. She was asleep it looked like.

"Who is she?" He asked the red headed woman. She turned her attention to the center of the room.

"Sir, this is Artemis. She is an experiment that has been in the making for a long time. We've finally got her to the point where she can track down a single persons brainwaves or life force from the other side of the planet." She looked on with pride at the woman in the test tube. "She is only eighteen, but her mind power has extraordinary results sir. The only problem is, if she were to be awake, we wouldn't have any control over her. She has been asleep all her life. Never even opened her eyes." Genesis wasn't impressed by this, but yet, he still cared.

"What exactly did you do to her?" The red head turned back to the SOLDIER and stared at him.

"You mean, they haven't told you?" He shook his head. He had never heard of Artemis, not once. Maybe he has, but never actually questioned what Artemis was. "Well, when we got her, she was a two month old premature baby, practically in a coma since birth. We operated on her, putting a crystal in her brain. Over time the crystal enhanced her brain waves, allowing her to do many things with her mind. She could get into your head, control your actions, make you do things you don't want to do. Her power is limitless." Genesis, wasn't thrilled about this, but still the red head continued on. "We use her mainly for tracking people. She's asleep basically, so she can't harm us as long as she is in slumber. If she were to wake, she would have the mentality and actions of a newborn." Genesis looked at the red head and raised an eyebrow.

"Or so you think." Her face faulted. "Now, on to business. I need to find a particular person." The red head smiled at the man.

"Do you have a signature or a code maybe, even a name would help." He gave her the piece of paper he was holding. The name scribbled on it was Garrin Sheder, an outlaw who had recently gone into hiding. "You may want to step out, this is hard to watch. Even for us." What were they going to do? He looked over to the sleeping woman and watched as a long needle came down, settling itself over her spine at the back of her neck.

"How exactly do you get information from her if she is asleep?" The red headed woman in front of him turned to the center of the room and pointed to the needle poised over the back of the sleeping girls neck.

"We send a series of electric shocks through her spine and brain, which bounce of the crystal. The information bounces off the crystal and back through the needle into wires that go to the computer you see here." The red head put a hand on the computer she was standing next to. "When your ready Sir, we can begin." Genesis nodded, giving the go ahead and one of the women pressed a button that allowed the needle to begin piercing the skin of Artemis's neck. He watched as she tensed up feeling the needle go into her spine. Her eyes scrunched up as if she were in severe pain. She couldn't cry out, for the tube in her throat and mouth kept her from doing so. Genesis watched the red headed woman next to him enter a few things into the computer and then he turned back to the girl. "Brace yourself Sir, she might try to get in your head." He didn't care. He watched as electric sparks danced all over the needle and caused the girl to straiten her back and throw her head up. Genesis swore he could hear screaming.

"Is that her screaming?" The red headed woman turned to him, looking confused at his words. She shook her head.

"There is no way she can, unless she is starting to reach out. That would mean she is close to waking up." The torture of Artemis continued till the information Genesis needed had been found. The needle that had been in Artemis's neck had been retracted and the girl relaxed settling back into her most comfortable position.

"Here you go Sir." The woman handed him a small white sheet of paper containing the information he was looking for. "Please, don't tell Hojo about Artemis. He will try to do worse things to her. She is pure human. I don't want her tainted by his experiments." He nodded, turning to Artemis.

"_Help me." _

Genesis heard the voice inside his head, knowing that he was the only one who could hear it. He nodded to the girl that called out to him with her mind, then left the lab. He would have to talk to someone about this. Maybe he should speak with Valera about the matter. After all, he was part of Valera. First, he had to find Sephiroth to give him the information he had just gathered.

"Send me all the way down here when he could have come himself." Genesis grumbled. Even though he and Sephiroth didn't get along to well, he still respected the General. He walked down the hall to the elevator, walking in and pressing the button to the floor that Sephiroth would most likely be on. "I had to say I had nothing better to do huh." He sometimes talked to himself, knowing that it would ease his frustrations with the fact that he had just seen something cruel taken place, yet when he saw this, he felt horrible. Normally, he would get a rush when someone was being tortured, but the person on the receiving end was usually deserving of it. This girl was pure, still innocent. She was pale, weak, fragile even. He wasn't for torturing the innocent.

The elevator stopped on the floor he requested, yet he really didn't want to talk to Sephiroth, he would rather talk to a chocobo. At least chocobo's were friendlier, and they didn't try to kill you with an insanely long sword. When the doors opened there stood Angeal, arms crossed and looking extremely mad.

"Where did he send you this time?" Genesis asked his friend while walking out of the elevator. Angeal just walked past him into the elevator and pressed a button.

"Guess." The doors to the elevator shut and Genesis shook his head, knowing that Angeal was going to the place he hated the most.

"The very top." The mako eyed man sighed then preceded to Sephiroth's office. He was older than Sephiroth, and ranked higher too. It was supposed to be his day off. He was going to go out tonight, but he changed his plans.

He walked into Sephiroth's office, where the silver haired man was hidden behind a huge stack of papers. This is the reason Sephiroth didn't go to the lab himself.

"Can you tell me why you are doing all this?" Genesis questioned the silver haired man behind the desk.

"Because, no one else wants to." Sephiroth put his pen down and looked at the auburn haired man standing in front of him.

"Have you considered on ordering someone else to do it?" Sephiroth nodded.

"I have, this is the shortest stack." Genesis laughed, then abruptly stopped when he realized what he had come up here to do. He pulled out the piece of paper the red headed woman in the lab gave him and handed it over to Sephiroth. "Impressive isn't she?"

"Who?" Genesis gave a confused look.

"The girl, Artemis." Genesis nodded, on the inside he felt strange about it. "I've never seen something like her before. It's a shame she's asleep, she would be very useful to me." Genesis couldn't even imagine what Sephiroth would use Artemis for.

"Yeah well, have a great time filling out these papers. I'm going enjoy the rest of my day off." With that said, Genesis walked out of Sephiroth's office to the elevator where Zack Fair was just getting off. "Careful kid, he's in a weird mood." Zack looked at Genesis confused, how did he know where Zack was going? The young man shrugged then headed down the hall as Genesis walked in the elevator. He pressed the button for the floor that Valera worked on. The woman would be happy to see him, for it was only a few times a month he could spare to go see his mother figure.

Humming the tune of a song that he had always played on the piano, he leaned against the wall of the elevator as it went down five floors. He would talk to her for a while then go get some sleep for tomorrow.

As soon as the elevator doors opened he walked out to an almost empty floor. There were at leas five people working, it was getting late. He walked past a row of cubicles and then walked up to a closed door that had the name Valera Tilray on it. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

"Come in!" He heard her from his side of the door. Turning the knob, he opened the heavy office door and walked inside. The auburn haired woman behind the desk looked up and put a big smile on her face. Genesis smiled as well, going over to meet his mother figure, who was rising from her chair to give the man she raised a hug. "I knew you were going to come see me today." She broke the hug and smiled at him. "So, what have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much, training mostly. Today I just happened to get a day off and Sephiroth decided to see if I wasn't to busy to go run an errand for him." He sighed. "I didn't like this errand he sent me on." Valera put a hand on his shoulder.

"What was it that made you not like it?" He looked into her green eyes and sighed. "It couldn't have been that bad." He looked at the floor. Here was the only place he could soften up, and the only person he could open up too. She was practically his real mother, the only woman who came close to a real mother.

"Have you ever heard of Artemis?" Valera nodded. "I saw her for the first time today." He looked up at Valera and she smiled.

"I've seen her too, she is innocence in it's most glorious form. You saw what they do to her huh?" Genesis nodded. "It' will kill her soon, if they keep doing that to her."

"That's what I don't like, it's torture to her, yet I heard her voice in my head. I heard her screaming." Valera knew what he was talking about. She had seen what they did to the poor girl. "Should I do something about it?" Valera opened her desk and pulled out a file. She handed it to Genesis.

"This was given to me an hour ago. I've read over it a dozen times since then." He opened the file and read over it's contents. Valera saw his eyes widen. "She's already dieing. Shinra already gave permission to report her as a failure. She is to be disposed of tomorrow." He shut the file and looked at Valera.

"I have to get her out of there." She looked at him and nodded.

"I agree. I'll find a place for her to go." Genesis nodded and walked out the room.

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Genesis found himself back at the lab he had been to earlier in the day. There was nobody in the room but Artemis. There was the sound of heart rate monitors recording the girls last heart beats for the time being. He went up to her prison, looking at her innocent form.

"_What is your name?" _He heard her voice in his head. This meant she was awake.

"My name is Genesis Rhapsodos." He said. He didn't know if she could hear him but, it didn't matter. She was apparently more advance than they thought. "Can you open your eyes?" Though surrounded by water, she could hear him. Cool crystal blue eyes opened up for the first time, meeting the soft glow of blue mako enhanced eyes.

"_It hurts." _He nodded understanding. She reached out with her left hand, placing it on the glass that separated her from the outside world. Genesis took off the glove on his right hand and placed it where hers was.

"I'm not going to let you die." Artemis closed her eyes then opened them again. "I promise you." She understood, but she was soo tired. He saw this and pulled out a book from his inside coat pocket. LOVELESS. "Would you like me to read to you?" He grabbed a nearby chair and sat in it facing her.

"_Yes. I would love it if you would." _Came the weak reply. He nodded and flipped a few pages in the small book. He began to read to her, not letting himself fall asleep even though he was exhausted. He did this for her, he never even read to anyone before. He fell asleep soon, reading to Artemis. She went into his dreams, before she couldn't hang on anymore. By dawn she was almost gone.

Genesis was woken up by her soft voice in his head. He opened his eyes, looking into hers. She was getting ever more closer to death. He stood up and went over to her water and glass prison. Placing a bare hand on the glass. He couldn't let her die. He promised. He always kept the promises he made.

"_It's okay to let me go." _He shook his head and looked down at his feet. _"I would just be a burden to you. You would have to teach me how to walk and to do other things." _He looked up back into her eyes.

"It would be worth it in the end. You've slept your life away. I think you have another chance." He started to get angry. "Brace yourself."

Genesis stepped away from her prison, holding up his arm allowing energy and magic flow through him. Valera walked in at that moment. She knew what he was going to do and watched as he let loose a ball of fire at the glass, cracking it. Quickly Valera shut off all the camera's in the area as he let loose another wave of fire. It was then that the glass gave way and all the water came spilling out onto the floor. Artemis lost consciousness and fell to the bottom of what was left of her prison.

"Genesis! Remove the tube from her throat!" Valera shouted at him. He did what he was told. He went over to the naked girl still curled up in a ball on the floor of her prison for the last eighteen years of her life. He carefully picked her head up and removed the tube from her throat, allowing her to breath on her own.

"Come on. Wake up." He held her head up, not caring if she was naked. He took his red coat off and put it over her. She wasn't breathing. "She isn't breathing." He started using CPR on her to get her to breathe. After a few minutes she coughed up water and bolted up, breathing rapidly. "Take deep breaths." He ran his now gloved hand down her back making her calm down. She started to cry. Like an infant does when it's first born. Her eyes were closed, they weren't use to air.

"Is she alright?" He nodded as Artemis collapsed against him. He wrapped his arms around her, putting his chin on her head.

"Yeah, I think she'll be okay now." He took his left arm and put it under her knees, then stood up. "We have to get her out of here." Valera nodded. "Welcome to the world, Artemis."

"thank….you." Came her weak reply as she rested her head on Genesis's shoulder. He smiled, knowing that she was okay now.

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Okay, first Genesis fic….don't really know his character to well, but if you look at it…all bad boys start out good.

Please let me know what you think. I'll give you cookies.

Michiyo


	2. Life

-1AN: I have to work on getting my computer to do time dividers….it hates me…you know what, everything either hates me…or loves me to death. Anyway, my loves…Emotional music calls for an emotional Genesis apparently….

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Valera opened the door to her apartment so Genesis could go through with Artemis, who was passed out in his arms. The girls hair was still wet and the only thing covering her naked body up was the red coat.

"Genesis, put her in the spare bedroom, I'll get some clothes for her." He did what he was told, going to the spare room and setting Artemis on the bed. Valera came in the room with clothes in her arms. "You better go take a shower and get some sleep. I'll call Sephiroth and tell him your not going to make it to work." She noticed that he seemed a bit paler than usual. She brushed it off, turning her attention back to the girl on the bed.

Genesis let the warm water pour down on him, he was tired. More than anything, he was content at the moment. He couldn't explain why he would feel this way, just knowing that Artemis was safe and couldn't be found. He would talk to Sephiroth about keeping her disappearance classified for the time being.

A few minutes later he was out the shower, and getting dressed in a pair of dark blue pajama pants he had left for when he occasionally stayed with Valera. He made his way out of the bathroom with a towel on his head, shirtless and semi wet hair dripping.

"Your dripping on my floor." Genesis turned his auburn haired head towards Valera, who was just coming out of the spare room. He looked like a kid caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

"Sorry Mom." She crossed her arms. If he hadn't lived with her from the time he was four to the time he joined SOLDIER, he wouldn't have any sense. "I'll clean it up in a few minutes." Apparently that wasn't a good enough answer for Valera. "Okay, I'll clean it up now." He took the towel that was on his head and threw it to the wood floor beneath his feet. He went down the hallway, wiping up the water that dripped off of his wet head.

"Good boy." Genesis sighed. Real mother or not, she was still his mom, if not by blood, then by love. "Get some sleep Love." She went up to him, giving him a hug then continuing to her own room.

He was on his way to his old room, from when he lived here. He paused when he came to the spare room, sighing he turned the knob and walked inside. Artemis had curled up, shivering beneath the blankets. He walked over to her, placing a hand on her forehead. She had a slight fever it seemed. Ever since she was freed from her prison of water and glass, she had recovered well, she was no longer on the edge of death. It meant that they had put something in the water, causing her body to shut down on her. The fever was probably caused from a small infection or a cold bug. Since she lived in water all her life, never being exposed to germs or anything else of the sort, her immune system was incredibly weak. He was about to walk out when he heard her speak.

"What will happen to me now?" Her voice was still weak, from not being used for years. He sat down on the bed next to her, sighing he put a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She was crying again.

"I don't know, but what ever comes your way, you have to be strong." Genesis reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "You can cry all you want now, but later in life, you'll run out of tears." He smiled at her and he was rewarded with a smile. Her smile was innocent and untouched. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "We'll talk later. Get some rest, even though you've slept enough, your body has to get use to being outside." With that Genesis left the room, shutting the door behind him.

He walked into his old room, looking at the boxes of old toys and books he had as a child growing up under the care of Valera. He never knew his birth parents, he didn't need to know them, he had a mother and a brother in the form of Angeal. He never had a father figure and as far as he knew, he really didn't need one. Ever since he could remember, he had been in the care of Valera and he couldn't of had a better mother than her.

The auburn haired man walked over to the double bed that occupied the room and laid down on it. He put his arms under his head and starred at the ceiling, thinking. He thought of many things, mostly about Artemis. He thought about the next training session between him, Angeal, and Sephiroth. It would be in a few days. It was already on his schedule, then there was the thought that he had been feeling out of sorts lately. He felt like he was getting weaker. He closed his Mako blue eyes, thinking some more, then telling himself to put it all behind him for the time being. He had other things to think about.

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THUMP!

Genesis woke to the sound of someone hitting the floor. Instantly he thought it was just someone in the apartment above Valera's. Then he realized that Artemis was here, and didn't know how to walk yet. He sighed and got out of bed, going to the spare room to see if the girl was okay.

Walking up to the door to the room that Artemis was occupying, he turned the knob and entered. He was a little surprised to see Artemis laying on the floor with the bed covers on top of her. She was awake and rubbing her head. Her blue tank top and grey shorts were slightly wrinkled from her moving in bed so much. Her hair was dry and messy.

"Ouch. That hurt." He smiled at her while walking up to her small frame. She looked up at him then pushed herself into a sitting position. "Stupid bed. Why do you have to be so high up?" Genesis laughed at her childishness and reached out his hand to help her up.

"Cause it's to keep the bugs from getting to you while you sleep." She took his hand and he pulled her up. She almost fell back down, but he wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling. "I think it's time you learn how to walk." She nodded. "First you have to keep balance. Straiten your legs." She did as told and locked her knees, making her legs strait. "There you go. Now, all you have to do is take one step at a time." She looked at him with worried eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let go of your hand."

"You will catch me if I fall right?" He nodded and stepped back, not letting go of her hand. She was standing on her own. "Okay, here it goes." She hesitantly took a step forward, Genesis taking a step back still holding her hand. She smiled when she realized she was moving forward.

"See, it's easy." She took another step forward, this time Genesis took two steps back. "Keep going, I'm not going to let you fall." She started to look down at her feet, but he stopped her. "Don't look at your feet or you'll fall. Keep your eyes on mine." She nodded and kept her eyes on his blue ones. She got so lost in them that she didn't even realize that he let go of her hand and that she was walking on her own. Before long they had made it to the living room. "You made it to the living room without falling or holding my hand." She started to cry. "What's the matter?" He wiped the tears running down her cheek away.

"I walked all the way here without falling." She said between sobs. The joy of being innocent. He took her in his arms and smiled. "I don't even know why I'm crying." Genesis chuckled at her. He was sure this was something associated with her womanly attributes. Valera knew more about it than he did.

"It's good to see that she can walk now." Genesis and Artemis both looked up to see Valera standing at the beginning of the hallway with a smile on her face. "Genesis, you better get to work. I'll take care of Artemis from here. I've talked to Sephiroth, he said you could be late, not miss a day." Genesis grunted.

"Who am I taking orders from? You, Sephiroth, or Shinra?" Valera shrugged at her adopted son. "I take orders from everyone I guess. I can't even be high ranked anymore." He let go of Artemis and walked down the hall to get dressed leaving the two women together.

"So, how bout something to eat my dear?" Artemis nodded. "I think it would be best to gradually start you on solid foods since you were practically fed baby food your entire life." Valera went into the kitchen and looked in the pantry for something, soup most likely. The older woman held up a can of double noodle soup. "This seems like a good choice. What do you think?" Artemis walked over to the table and sat down.

"I'll eat anything that's good." Valera smiled and got a pot out of the cabinet next to the pantry. "I have a few questions to ask you after Genesis leaves." The auburn haired woman smiled, while opening the can and putting it's contents in the pot.

"I will be happy to answer them. If you are up to it, I would like to take you to get some clothes today." Artemis nodded her head when Valera looked in her direction. "And you might need a few other things as well."

Genesis walked into the living room looking for his coat, but remembered that it was in the spare room where it was draped over a chair in the corner. He walked into the room and grabbed his coat, then he headed towards the kitchen where the two women were conversing. Artemis was eating soup, Valera sitting across from her at the table talking about the most simple of things, love.

"Well, I'll be back sometime tonight." They looked up at him as he walked through the kitchen to hug Valera, dressed in his original attire. He walked over to Artemis and she gave him a smile, then hugging him.

"Have a good day!" Valera said, smiling. "Don't get hurt!" Artemis giggled at the response he gave his adopted mother.

"I won't mom. You know me." He walked out the door. Another day it seemed like to Valera. Somehow though, she was worried about him.

"Okay, lets go find you something to wear before we go out." Artemis watched as Valera got up and came around to help her up from where she sat. "Now, I can answer your questions." Artemis nodded then followed the older woman to her room.

When they had walked into Valera's room there were pictures on the walls and on the dresser. One that stood out the most was a picture of a little boy with blue eyes and auburn hair. The boy could've been no more than ten. Artemis picked up the picture while Valera went through her closet.

"Is this Genesis?" Valera stopped what she was doing and looked at the picture that the younger woman was holding, she smiled.

"Yes, he is. He was ten when I took this. He was tested on before he was even born. From the womb." Artemis watched as the green eyed woman fingered the frame. "It was a cruel thing, but he managed. His birth mother, was sent away after his birth. She is still alive, but she will not see the monster she bore. That is what she said. Instead, they gave him to me to raise." Artemis then had an image go through her head of a younger Valera holding a newborn. She didn't understand at first.

"You did a good job." Valera smiled. "I want to have a child one day. I've always dreamed of a family, if not my birth family. I would make my own, I've been in the minds of other people, learning from them. I know it's wrong, but it was my only way to learn, incase I ever got out of where I was." Valera smiled, putting the picture back on the dresser. "I never hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt anyone at all." The older woman smiled at her, then went into her closet.

"I think I have just the outfit for you." Artemis stood there waiting for Valera to come out again. When the older woman did, she had a light green skirt, a turquoise zip up jacket and a white tank top. "Go sit if this fits and then we can do your hair." The girl went to the bathroom to change her clothes.

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Genesis was in his office, looking at various files that had been piling up over the last four days. At least it wasn't training, he didn't feel up to it today. He would rather work in an office than training when he wasn't feeling to great. He sighed and picked up the very top file, then sat in his chair. He read over the file, then deciding that it had to go eight levels down, which he didn't feel like doing. Picking up his phone he dialed Elena's number.

"Elena, send Reno to me when you see him." There was a 'Yes Sir!' on the other end then he hung up the phone. He didn't feel like dealing with Reno, but things had to be done. He looked at the clock, 12:32 pm. He was hungry, but he had all this work to do.

After twenty agonizing minutes he had gotten all the files in a pile ready to be sent to the destinations they were supposed to be two days ago. He was going to get joy out of seeing Reno squirm from going up and down to different floors of the building. He loved to make Reno squirm, it was just fun, and cruel.

"Yo, Boss man!" Just in time. Reno was always nearby when you thought about it. Genesis looked up at the red headed Turk and glared. He hated it when Reno did that. "Oh sorry, forgot you don't like to be called that." Genesis simply put down his pen and sighed. "By the way, there is a lovely young lady here to see you." Reno went over to Genesis and picked up the files that were piled up at the corner. "I'll just go now." Genesis nodded. Artemis walked in and smiled at him.

"I thought since Valera had gotten called in to work I should come with her, instead of staying at her house." He smiled and noticed she had gotten a haircut. Her hair use to be down to her lower back, now it was at her shoulders and layered. She looked nice, no, not nice….lovely.

"I like what you've done with your hair." She nodded and walked over to his desk placing a bag on it. "What's this?"

"I thought you would be hungry, so I bought some food." He opened the bag, pulling out a box with spaghetti in it. "My soup is at the bottom, if you could please hand it to me, it would be nice." He smiled and took out the Styrofoam bowl with the lid on it. She pulled up a chair next to him and they began to eat.

"I didn't think you would come back to this place. Your not afraid of them finding you?" She shook her head before taking another bite.

"Why would I be afraid?" She said after swallowing. "Valera talked to Sephiroth about having all documents on me burned. I was labeled a failure, disposed of, and erased." He shook his head having a different opinion.

"If the people who experimented on you knew you were here, they would try to do other things." Artemis smiled, knowing he was right, but she had a way around it. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm going to use a different name when I'm in public, but when it's just me, you, and Valera, I will be Artemis." He looked at her and smiled, she was smart.

"Good idea." He took a bite of his lunch. Artemis watched as he took another bite, she noticed a white hair on his head. She knew something was up with him.

"Genesis, you have a white hair on your head." He looked up at her confused. He wasn't old enough to get grey hair and he didn't have children to cause grey hair either. Artemis reached over and plucked the hair from his head, he grunted. "Sorry, but look." She held up the hair.

It was white as snow.

"That hurt, but I get your point, I'm getting old." She shook her head. "I'm not getting old then."

"Your body is rejecting the G-cells." His eyes widened. "I won't tell anyone. Valera should know about it though." He put his fork down, how did she know all of this?

"How do you know this, Artemis?" He turned to her and grabbed her by her shoulders, anger in his eyes. "Tell me!" Her eyes started to water and she looked down at her lap where her hands were.

"I can sense it. Even when I was asleep I could sense you, but the past few weeks, you've been getting weaker. I was able to go into the minds of some of the people who knew of you and your medical history. They had been noticing the same thing. They don't want to tell you in fear of what you would do to them." She started to cry, he let go of her shoulders when he saw this.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She didn't care, she just cried, even though she didn't know why she felt so bad. She felt incredibly sick. He grabbed her hands and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. "You have no idea what you do to me." He said in a whisper. He kissed the top of her brown haired head.

"I don't feel good, emotionally. I feel sick, like I'm alone. Like no one cares for me." Genesis shook his head. "Then why do I feel so bad?"

"Your being overwhelmed. It's natural, you haven't felt anything like guilt, or greed, even sorrow. You were born human, but raised as a machine." She kept crying into his chest. He was right, all she knew was what she could see, she hadn't been able to feel emotion for the first eighteen years of her life. This was something knew. Yet when she was around this man, she felt things that she had never felt before. "It's hard but you will learn to control them." He knew her innocence, it was there in her soul and in her eyes. It was also the thing that kept him from hurting her unlike he did to other people. She was his new weakness, even though his body was quickly replacing her in that department.

"Is it okay if I stay with you for the rest of the day?" She broke away from him, looking at him with pleading eyes. He simply nodded.

"Just as long as you can tell me who is coming before they get out the elevator." She laughed. It was like hearing bells chime. "Just let me know when Reno comes, so we can run before he gets here." She nodded while grinning. He reached over and plucked out a hair from her head. She yelped a bit. "That was from earlier."

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Whoa…that took like…twenty minutes to type. Okay, so this fic isn't completely Spoiler free…I can't stay with the plot if I don't include some spoilers…but minor spoilers….nothing big.

Anyway, please review….I love you guys!

Michiyo


	3. Emotion

-1AN: okay, some of you probably think that Genesis may be a little OOC….well I'm not entirely sure, cause until you get to the later chapters….his attitude starts to change. Like I said, every bad boy starts out good.

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Night had settled over Midgar, bringing rain with it. Artemis was excited about it, and on the way back to Valera's, all she did was skip and play in the drops of water falling from the sky. It wasn't the water that she spent most of her life in, it was fresh, and it felt good. Genesis was amazed by how she viewed the world. She was a child in the body of an adult.

"Valera, I have to go to my apartment for a bit. I'll go to your house after that." His adopted mother nodded and watched as a large black wing came from his left shoulder. Artemis saw this and stopped in her tracks.

"Genesis?" He turned to look at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be back." With that he took off in to the air. Black feathers fell from the sky, Artemis caught one and placed it in her hair behind her ear.

"Come on, lets get you home and into some dry clothes." Valera put an arm around the girls shoulders, walking beside her. "Maybe we can watch a movie." The girl nodded solemnly, she was feeling sad now. "What's wrong?" Artemis couldn't talk, she just started crying.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel as though everything is bigger than me and that I'm alone. I keep having these horrible feelings that something bad is about to happen." She choked on a sob. "I feel like I'm going to lose him." Valera knew what she was feeling.

"What you are feeling now, is doubt and fear. It's not good to feel these things, but your human and you will feel them. It's overwhelming at first, but you can't let them take control of you. Learn a good emotion, like love, or happiness." Valera thought of how to make Artemis experience the two feelings she had just named. "What were you feeling when you were playing in the rain?"

"I felt like dancing, almost like I was alive." Valera nodded.

"And what do you feel when you think of Genesis?" Artemis thought for a bit.

"I get this strange feeling in my stomach, like there is something fluttering in it. Then I feel like I did when I played in the rain." The older woman knew what it was the girl felt.

"That was love and happiness. I'm afraid you have to wait a couple of months before getting closer to Genesis." Artemis shook her head.

"He doesn't have much time. He grows weaker and weaker everyday. His hair is starting to turn grey, like he's aging incredibly fast." Valera stopped walking.

"You mean that the degeneration has begun with him?" The younger woman nodded. "How can we stop it?"

"You can't. It goes it's own way." They continued walking. "There is one person who can help. Dr. Hollander." The rain started to fall harder, and lightning could be seen in the distance, with the sound of thunder not far behind each strike.

Once inside Valera's apartment both women went to their rooms to dry off and get into some more comfortable clothes. They both came out of their rooms and went into the living room, to watch TV. Valera flipped through the channels looking for something decent to watch, even though it looked like there was really nothing. When they heard the door unlock, they knew it was Genesis, only when he walked in he didn't have a wing. This confused Artemis. He didn't pay any attention to the two women on the couch and just walked strait to his old room in a hurry. Valera saw the way he was acting and knew something was up. She looked over at the other girl and saw that she was already curled up in a ball asleep.

Grabbing a blanket, Valera put it over the girl and went to see what was wrong with Genesis. She saw that the door was closed, so she knocked. He didn't answer. So, she knocked again, this time going in.

"Genesis, what's wrong?" He was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room reading a book. It was an old book, but it was one of his favorites from when he was a child. Valera knew that when he was reading, you could never get him to pay attention. She sat down next to him and took the book out of his hands. This caused him to retaliate.

"Give that back! I was reading it!" He reached for the book, hoping that she would give it back to him.

"Not until you talk to me." Shirtless and in dark green pajama pants he sighed, taking the moment to get his thoughts back on course.

"I'm degenerating. Artemis actually found a white hair on my head. Sad part is, I want to do everything possible to stop it." He looked at Valera, something was in his eyes that she had never seen before. It scared her a little bit.

"Well, I'm going to bed, Artemis is sleeping on the couch." She gave him a hug, which he accepted. "Goodnight." She got up and left the room. When he heard her shut her door, he got up and went into the living room.

Artemis was curled up in a ball asleep on the couch, with a fluffy white blanket over her fragile body. He knew what he was going to do in the next few years would hurt her, even if it caused him to accomplish his own goals. He wouldn't let her get caught in the cross hairs. Hopefully, Hollander was right about the time he had. Three years till his degeneration was in it's final stages. It would give him time to teach her the things she needed to know. He gently picked her up bridal style and took her to her room where he put her in her bed, taking the covers out from under her, tucking her in. He was about to leave her room when he felt something grab his wrist. He turned to look at what was keeping him from leaving.

"Can you stay with me tonight?" He went over to her and sat down on the floor next to her bed. He held her hand. "I meant up here in the bed." She mumbled. He knew she couldn't see that he was smiling. He got up and got in the bed on the other side of her.

"Is this better?" He pulled her closer to him, she was running a fever, and she was shivering. She had her back to him, but still got as close to his warmth as possible.

"Hmm." she mumbled. He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her on the top of her head.

"You are my light, my soul, my guide." He said to her. "You are what's left of the innocence in the world." He closed his eyes and started to hum a song he use to play along time ago. "Don't ever give up on me, even if I change for the worse." He didn't know that she could hear him. She smiled in the dark.

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Morning came too soon. Artemis woke up, knowing that Genesis had left early for work. Yet, there was a note on the pillow next to hers. She picked it up and read it. It said to bring him some lunch when she got the chance. She would do so, knowing that Valera would know what to get him. She got up and got dressed for the day.

Walking out of her room, she caught Valera in the kitchen getting ready to leave for work. Now was the chance to ask the question that had been on her mind all morning.

"Valera, could I use your last name for an identity?" The older woman, turned to look at her. She was wearing black slacks, heels, and a purple dress shirt. Her jacket was hanging on a chair.

"I don't see why not. What for?" Artemis smiled.

"I would like to get a job where you work, as your assistant or something, and I could be your niece or your cousin." Valera, noticing the fact that the poor girl couldn't just stay by herself all day, nodded.

"Sure, I don't mind. The money you make can go towards your room or whatever you want to spend it on. We'll have to come up with a name." Artemis nodded.

"I already did, I like the name Sarah." The auburn haired woman nodded liking the name. "Sarah Tilray."

"It's perfect." Artemis smiled, she would be able to do something and get rewarded for it. "By the way Dear, what has got you in such a wonderful mood this morning?"

"I'm not telling." Valera laughed.

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As they walked down the sidewalk to the Shinra building where everyone worked, Artemis noticed that the sky was much clearer than the day before. Something in the weather said to her that the day was going to be great. She knew she still had some growing up to do, mentally, but for now this was what she wanted. She could get someone to teach her how to play piano, like the one in Valera's apartment.

"Valera, do you know anyone who can teach me piano?" The woman nodded. "Cool."

"I know how to play, I taught Genesis actually. I can't play anymore though. Maybe if you ask him, he will teach you." Artemis nodded, still walking next to the auburn haired woman. It would be good to learn something to do with music. The tune she heard Genesis hum to her last night was comforting.

"I was wondering what to bring him for lunch. I have no idea what to get him." Valera thought of something her adopted son really liked to eat. There was always Chicken Parmesan, Genesis always liked stuff like that.

"Don't worry, I know exactly what he wants. I'll order it later, you can take Reno with you to pick it up. He wouldn't mind going with you." Artemis smiled. She liked Reno, because he was funny. He knew how to make people laugh, even though his jokes were mostly overused to some people. She called the red headed Turk 'Goggle Head'. He was the one who showed her to Genesis' office.

"That's good, I don't mind having Reno come along either." They continued to walk towards the Shinra building, knowing that the day was going to be great.

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Genesis was currently waiting to see President Shinra, for reasons unknown, though he could guess what the reason really was. It was probably about Artemis. All he knew is that there was a message taped to his office door, saying to report to the President ASAP. So, here he was, standing at parade rest in the Presidents office when the President wasn't even there to begin with. At least he was looking out the window at the birds flying through the air. Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait long, being the highest ranked officer in SOLDIER.

However, the door opened to reveal Sephiroth, who was looking rather unpleased at being summoned here so, briskly. The silver haired man walked over to Genesis, standing next to him at parade rest as well.

"Do you know what this is about?" Genesis sighed, then turned to look at the man standing next to him. Sephiroth made him feel short and Genesis, had a problem with that.

"Yes, I do know what this is about. No, I'm not going to tell you cause I'm not exactly sure why you were summoned here in the first place when what I did was really my fault." There, he said what he had to say, end of story. Knowing Sephiroth though, he would ask the reason why he did it in the first place. "You really want to know."

"If you would be so kind to tell me why you broke Artemis out of sleep and your keeping her with your adopted mother?" The silver haired man really knew how to irritate Genesis. It was getting him angry.

"Fine, I broke her out cause she is pure human, and is completely innocent. She didn't deserve to be killed just because she is a failure. Really, she isn't a failure, she is smarter and more advanced than they realize." Sephiroth was intrigued by the answer to his question.

"You make a lot of sense, true, no one that innocent deserves to be killed just because they were labeled a failure. Just because you did what you had to, that's a worthy cause right there." For once, Sephiroth said something that made him sound like he wasn't an ice cube. It surprised Genesis.

"Since when did you vote for me and not against me?" Sephiroth raised a silver eyebrow. "You never do that."

"Who says I was going for you? I'm just stating what I would do. Which is pretty much what you did." If there were ever the time Genesis could kick Sephiroth's ass, it would be now. Instead, the auburn haired man mentally kicked the crap out of the silver haired man standing next to him.

"I'm never doing anything for you ever again." Sephiroth was a bit disappointed to hear that. Who was going to take files down stairs when Genesis was on his day off? Oh well, he would have to find a replacement. "I still have a bigger office than yours, and it has a great view." If looks could kill, and in Rude's case, they probably could. Sephiroth would have strung Genesis up by his red coat. The only problem with that, Genesis would probably kick his ass once he got down.

The insults being shot back and forth were short lived as the President walked in with his white suit. Both SOLDIERS stood at attention when he entered and stayed that way until he sat in his chair.

"At ease." Both men went back into parade rest, hands clasped behind their backs and feet apart, facing ahead. "Now, on to business." The man in the white suit took out a file and opening it up he read the contents. "It says here that Project Artemis, was supposedly taken away from here before she could be terminated. I know it was you who took her Genesis. My question is, why?" Genesis was right. The red coated man went into attention, stepping forward then going back to parade rest. He sighed and then began to speak.

"I did what I saw was right to do, I see no point in terminating an innocent girl, who is not even a failure. She is more advanced than the scientists thought. I took her away from here to keep her out of Hojo's hands. That is all Sir." The President nodded excepting the statement as truth. Genesis took this time to take a breath.

"This file I have in my hand, is the application for a job, signed by Ms. Valera Tilray. The picture of the applicant has the same facial features as Project Artemis." Genesis just stood there, not knowing what was going to happen next. "Therefore, I'm going to allow her working as Ms. Tilray's assistant." Genesis could barely contain the sigh he was about to let out. "On one condition." Here was the kicker. "You must train her to fight in combat. Her mind power must be really strong. We could use her skills." It could've been worse.

"Yes Sir." Genesis didn't know whether he was upset or relieved. It didn't matter now.

"You are dismissed. As for Sephiroth, I need to talk to him about something else." Genesis saluted the President then exited the office. He was headed to his office.

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After a long elevator ride down, Genesis found comfort in his chair. He let out a sigh, figuring his next move. He looked at his now organized desk, with a picture of Valera next to a paperweight that were the only things colorful on it. He would have to get a picture of Artemis. He turned himself around to look out the window so he could stare at the outside world.

"Hey there. Long time no talk." Genesis turned from the window to see Angeal and Zack standing just inside the door. It was obviously Zack that said the words.

"Where have you been the past two days?" Genesis asked Angeal, who was looking a bit down. "Wait, do I even want to know?" Zack was about to say something when Angeal put a hand over the boys mouth.

"No, you don't." The man sitting in the chair raised an eyebrow. It couldn't have been that bad.

"I'll stick to your word." Angeal took his hand away from Zack's mouth then slapped the boy on the back of the head. "Cruel Angeal. Cruel." The dark haired man shrugged.

"We just came to say that we're back from the mission, and to give you this file." Angeal handed over a file and Genesis took it from his friend, then set it on his desk in front of him.

"How nice of you, but I'm about to get some company in a few minutes." The clock on his desk read 11:59 am. Artemis would be coming soon.

"We were just about to head down for lunch ourselves. Would you like anything?" Genesis shook his head. "Well, then I'll see you later." With that the two left the office leaving the man alone for the time being.

It may have been lunch time, but it was a great time to sit back and do nothing for a while. At least till Artemis came. Then he would be able to talk to her about the job. Unless, Valera told her about it already. Which, she would do the moment she got word. It didn't matter though, as long as the girl was happy, he would be okay with it.

Then, there was the other part of the deal, he had to train her to fight. He didn't want to train her to kill, but he could train her to wound. He didn't know of a weapon that would suit her purpose. He would probably have to design one for her. It would probably take a long time, but until then, he could strengthen her mind with literature, techniques, math, things she would need when it came to working here. It would take a year, but it was a year he was willing to spend solely on her. He wouldn't let her down, even though his body was beginning to fail him, he wasn't giving up on her just yet.

"Hey, I bought lunch." he looked up and noticed how she was dressed. She had a black flowing skirt that went down to her knees, with knee high boots and a red sleeveless shirt on. Her hair was done up in a bun and she had a necklace on with a simple pearl on it. She had a smile on her face. She looked like a woman should look.

"Good, I was getting really hungry. You look great today." She walked over to his desk putting the bag full of food she had personally gone to get from a local restaurant.

"Thanks." she said walking over to him and giving him a hug around his neck. "I never said thanks for last night. So, I asked Valera what your favorite food was, and I ordered it for you." He smiled.

"You didn't have to, it's dangerous for you to go alone though." She laughed a bit. Then pulled up a chair next to him.

" I didn't go alone, I took Reno with me." She got her fettuccini out of the bag and began to eat it. Genesis doing the same with his food. "So, I want to know if you could do something for me?" He took a bite then nodded. "Valera said you know how to play piano, I would like to learn." He finished chewing then turned to look at her.

"I haven't played in a long time, but I'll teach you, and maybe one day you'll be really good at it. Maybe even sing." She smiled and hugged him tightly around the neck. "I also have to teach you a lot of other things. You may not like it, but I was ordered to do it." She nodded understanding. Her mind was catching up with her body in age.

"What ever it takes." He smiled, then went back to eating.

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Sorry, I just had to make him a piano player, cause well, I did. I'm a piano player….so the next chapter may be a bit easier to write.

Michiyo


	4. Time

-1AN: Okay, this chapter is going to go through a major time warp about a quarter of the way through. If you are pregnant, have heart conditions, or degenerating, like Genesis, please, fast forward cause there may be some major turbulence (not really, I'm just messing with you) so, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

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Artemis sat at the baby grand piano in Valera's apartment, fingering the keys while waiting for Genesis to get there. It had been four weeks since she was taken out of sleep, since then, she had gotten a job as Valera's assistant and started learning piano, with the help of the auburn haired SOLDIER. Today, he just happened to get the day off, which was once a week. Last week she had learned her second scale on the piano. Not only was she learning the piano, she was learning how to read music, and learning math skills.

"No, that's middle 'C', not this one." She was getting frustrated with the sheet in front of her. The quarter note was a 'C' but it was in the low staff. She was learning a song, it wasn't hard, but still it was difficult to get the notes right. Paying more attention to the piano in front of her she didn't hear the door open and the person she was waiting for, come in.

"Still working on it?" She turned around hearing his voice. He just happened to be dressed in black cargo pants and a red T-shirt. It was his day off, he could afford to be himself and let loose. He went over to her and sat down next to her on the bench. "It goes like this." He played four notes, then looked at her. "See, it's starts off here, on 'A' then these three are after it." he pointed to the three notes on the sheet. "It's a repetitive song, so it's just these notes over and over again." He started to play the song. All she could do was keep silent as he played. There was smoothness to his playing. It was relaxing.

He hadn't played anything in a long time, but it sure felt good to pick it back up again. It was the one thing he could remember actually succeeding at as a child. He was glad that Artemis asked him to teach her, otherwise, he would never have the excuse for playing every again. Yet, Artemis stayed by him, listening and watching him play. He was down to the last line of the song and simply finished it in style, smoothly.

"I didn't know you could play like that." He turned his head to look at her, taking his hands off the keys.

"I haven't played a full piece in a long time. Not since I was thirteen." She smiled at him. He just looked down at the black and white keys.

"Yeah, but it never left you, you just picked it back up." He nodded then played a scale on the piano. She took her right hand and played the same scale. Her mind was copying his movements. He noticed this.

"Watch my hands okay." He played a few complicated notes and watched as she copied him by playing the same notes exactly. "Your getting stronger in the mind. It's more analytical." She just continued playing the notes.

"Yes, but I still can't get it on my own. If you hand me another song, I wouldn't be able to just read it like you, you would have to play it for me. I would be able to play it after you did. I still have to learn the old fashion way. By simply having you guide me." He smiled, she was getting better, and smarter. He put his left hand on her shoulder.

"You'll get it, I promise." She played a couple of notes and he replied by playing two more notes. Then all of a sudden they burst out laughing Genesis held up one finger before playing a bouncy tune on the piano. She joined in playing a series of low notes. Heart & Soul. The two were having fun with it. Valera was at work, so they could have as much fun as possible.

"What's for lunch anyway?" They had stopped playing, feeling their stomachs growl with hunger. He shrugged on hearing her question.

"Since you can eat solids now, I guess I can whip up something." She looked at him with question in her eyes. "What? How else was I going to survive on all those missions I went on?" He had a good point. "Besides, Valera wasn't always home to cook for me when I was younger." He grinned getting up from where he was sitting and going into the kitchen. Artemis stayed at the piano trying to read the sheet music in front of her. She wanted to get that piece finished.

"Can I help?" She turned to him as he was looking through the pantry. She giggled when he hit his head on the top of the pantry.

"Sure, I'm not just cooking for myself you know." He went over to the cabinet where the pots were, grabbing a small one and a frying pan, he set them on the stove. Artemis walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter while he was standing next to the stove chopping up onions and bell peppers. "Grab me a bowl out of the cabinet." He pointed to the cabinet to her right with the knife he was holding. She complied and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet then handing it to him. "Thanks." He put the chopped up vegetables in the frying pan with a little olive oil then stirring them around with a wooden spoon.

By the time Genesis was done cooking, he had enough spaghetti to last a week. He proved to Artemis that he could indeed cook and it tasted good too. The sat at the table eating the spaghetti, he poured himself a glass of red wine that Valera had stored in the pantry, it had been there for a long time. Artemis wanted some but he told her no, she was underage. Instead, she got to have cola, which she loved.

"So, what did the President say when he sent for you a few weeks ago?" She knew about that, Valera must have told her about it. He sighed, he had just gotten full to the point where he thought he was going to pass out.

"He gave me orders to train you in combat, but lucky for you, I'll take it easy on you. Your too innocent to kill anyone, so I'm just going to teach you basic self defense. If you think you can handle that, then we'll talk about weapons." She nodded solemnly. "I don't have a choice. It was either that, or you go to Hojo!" He practically yelled at her and she didn't even tear up or cry when he did that. It surprised him, then he realized what he had did. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that." She could tell that he was beginning to loose himself. She knew he was angry cause he wasn't sure if he was going to stay alive for five more years. He stood up and went to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

"I know your afraid." She said quietly. "But I'm not going to break. Not that easily. The crystal in my brain, is a Mako crystal. In a few years, my eyes, will be like yours. They have already started to glow." He just continued to clean up, knowing what she said was true.

"You may not be afraid, but I am." She got up from the table and went over to him. "I'm changing, and soon, I'm not going to be the same person you see here." She shook her head and hugged him. It startled him for a second, because it was almost a tackle, but he did what he should do. He wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin on her head.

"I'm not going anywhere, I heard what you said that night you stayed with me, I will stay with you." She said into his chest. He felt tears go through his shirt. "Even if it means I have to give up my innocence to keep you with me." It was something he would never want her to do, but it was her choice.

"I would never ask you to do that." She let go of him and went over to the piano and began playing a random series of notes. It sounded sad, but he didn't mind it, he was doing the dishes.

It seemed like time was going faster as she played. Pretty soon, as he saw it, she would be the best piano player in Midgar. Even better than him, but as he listened to the jumbled up mess she was playing, he could pick out a pattern in it. She didn't care if it made no sense, she just wanted to play how she felt that very moment. And she did. Time had sped up, and things were getting harder to keep up with.

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A year went by, it was amazing how Artemis played a song on the piano without missing a note. Her fingers played the keys gracefully, as her eyes followed the notes on the sheet music in front of her. The piece she was playing was called Relaxation, it was a soft yet difficult song and when she played it she could see in her mind a river flowing. Leaves falling from the trees, settling on the clear waters of the gently flowing river. Yet, now she was one of the better piano players out there. Genesis had taught her well, but he would no longer play with her.

Over the past few months, he had been working so much. Every now and then there would be a white hair on his head that she would pluck off and he would glare at her for it. He didn't tell as many jokes as he use to, or smile when she did. He could feel himself getting weaker and wasn't happy about it. Yes, she had been taught to fight and among other things, learned how to use a gun. He had noticed guns weren't her thing, neither were swords or staffs. She had good aim, but didn't like the fact that guns made to much noise.

She was now nineteen, and still she was unnoticed by Hojo or any other people. She had talked to Sephiroth every now and then, when she would bring files to him or watch as he, Genesis, and Angeal fought with each other. She had become good friends with Zack Fair, who would play a prank on her every so often.

"Artemis! Your going to be late!" Valera shouted from her room. The young woman put up her music and grabbed her shoes then ran out the door. She ran all the way to the Shinra building barefoot, not stopping for a breath. She wore black slacks and a blue low collar blouse. She had grown in more ways than one. Her hair was down to the middle of her back, for she refused to cut it again. She had it half up leaving some of the hair that use to be bangs, hang from the front of her face.

"Artemis, did you run all the way here?" She was out of breath in the elevator when she heard Angeal ask her the question. She looked up at him and nodded her head. "Don't worry, I'll cover for you. Got caught up in playing piano again huh?" Once again the young woman nodded, still out of breath. "It's a good thing, cause Genesis wanted to see you ASAP. He said it was important." The elevator stopped and she followed Angeal out of it going down the row of offices to the place she was told to go. She went into the office she familiar with. Genesis looked up at her when she entered.

"Good morning." She smiled. His eyes seemed to brighten a little, but there was no hint of a smile or anything on his face. She sat down in a chair across from him, her lightly glowing eyes holding hope in them. "Angeal said you wanted to see me?" He nodded then put down his pen, getting up from his chair he went around the desk and stood in front of the brown haired girl offering her a hand to stand up.

"There is something I want to show you." He said. She took his hand and helped her up from where she sat. He walked out the door with her following, wondering where he was taking her. He lead her to the elevator, walking in and pressing a button. The ride was in silence for a bit, then he spoke. "I'm sorry I haven't been talking to you. I haven't been myself lately." It was true, but she didn't care, as long as he still cared about her. "I've been cold towards you, it shouldn't be that way." She understood.

"I don't care, as long as you still care about me." He looked to her with sadness in his eyes. "I told you before, I'll stay with you no matter what. Nothing is going to change that." For the first time in weeks, he smiled at her. It wasn't a big smile, but it was a smile none the less. She had really grown up, and now she was even more beautiful than she had ever been before.

Soon the elevator stopped at a floor she had been on only a few times. It was where the weapons were stored, a place she was surprised to be. Still, she followed the red coated man out of the elevator and down the hall to a particular room she had never been in before. He opened the door and waited for her to go through.

"Genesis, why are we here?" He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. He just pointed to an object on the wall on the far side of the room. She went up to it, taking in the beauty of it. She didn't know what it was, it was a weapon she had never seen before. It was blue steel, and curved, like a crescent moon, it had wings coming from the center where a hilt was, it was like a double ended sword, only it had a string connecting the tips together. The wings were sharp, but it was just beautiful. She took it from the wall and handled it, pulling on the string and looking at the symbols carved into it. The auburn haired SOLDIER looked on at Artemis was examining his latest project.

"I designed it for you." She looked to him with surprise. "I had it made just for you, because you don't like swords that much, but you have good aim, I thought it was the perfect weapon." He picked up what looked like a stick with a steel tip to it, and it had black feathers on the other end. He walked over to her, placing the stick in her hand. She knew what it did now, it was a bow. She took the arrow and notched it on the string of the bow. She drew it back with ease, then letting it go, embedding the arrow in the wall above the door. Right where she aimed.

"It's perfect." he held up a finger for a moment then pressed a small button on the side of the bow causing it to fold up. It was folded up into something no bigger than a book, the wings still stuck out though. He gave her a belt that was hanging on the wall next to where the bow was. It had wings and crescent moons embossed into the leather. He had did this all for her?

She let him put the belt around her hips, even though it was making her blush a bit. He took the folded up bow out of her hands and hung it on her hip. She just stood still as he worked silently. He stood up strait when he was done with what he had to do.

"I take it your happy now?" She nodded, tears starting to fall from her eyes. He noticed this and wiped them away with his gloved thumb. "It's been a long time since I've had to wipe away your tears." She didn't say anything, just hugged him with such force, it knocked the air from his lungs. He hugged her back as soon as he recovered from having the air knock out of his chest. She had gotten a slight bit taller, she use to be up to his chin, now she had reached his mouth in height, or it could've been the heels she was wearing. "I have something else for you." He reached in his pocket and took out a bracelet with a blue stone on it. "This will help you if you run out of arrows. There are materia slots on the bow if you need it." She broke apart from him and took the bracelet out of his hand, putting it on.

"Thank you." He nodded then looked away for a second. It was then she noticed another white hair on his head. She took this chance to pluck it from his head.

"Ouch!" He turned to glare at her. "If you keep it up, I'm going to go bald." She laughed, it was the first joke he had made in a while. "I'm not joking." He knew that to her, he was joking. He could live with it.

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It had been a month since she had gotten her bow, which she had named Diana. Now she was watching the three SOLDIERS fight against each other on the screen. She was in the simulation room, where the simulator put them at Junon Harbor, where they were talking for the time being. Genesis looked annoyed and put his book away before he and Angeal raised their swords, then attacking the silver haired man. Artemis couldn't hear them, but she could feel and see them. There was a lot of anger in Genesis, she could sense it, and see it in his eyes. There had always been a rivalry between him and Sephiroth, but now they seemed like enemies. Sephiroth was nice to her, but when it came down to it, he was cruel. She watched as Angeal got in between Genesis and Sephiroth, trying to keep them from killing each other, it didn't work. Genesis didn't care if Angeal was ready for it or not, the auburn haired man was summoning fire and put his hand in his friends face.

Artemis was shocked by this, and watched as Angeal plummeted to the water. What had gotten into Genesis? He never did anything like that before. She watched the battle between the two higher ranking SOLDIERS, they were tearing the simulation apart. Then Angeal came between them again, blocking each others attacks against one another. So much force and strength made a sword break, it was then the simulation ended with Genesis holding his arm below the shoulder. The auburn haired man got up, grabbing his sword and walked past Sephiroth out of the room. Artemis knew he was hurt. She went to him.

"Genesis!" She ran up to him, but he only glared at her, the look in his eyes scared her.

"I'm fine." He pushed her away, walking past her. He dropped his sword, no longer caring and just kept walking. She walked over to where his sword lay on the floor, picking it up.

"You better go after him. He needs you, even if he thinks he's fine." Angeal said as he walked up behind her. She turned to him and nodded, then followed Genesis. He had left the building and she followed him all the way to his apartment. He knew she was right behind him, he wasn't going to stop her, he knew she wouldn't leave.

"I'll be fine, go home." He stopped before walking in the door to his home. She looked at her feet. 

"I can't." He turned to her, anger and pain in his eyes.

"Why not?" Her eyes started to tear up, she didn't have an answer, she knew she had to be here. "Is it because you feel pity for me? Or, is it that you can't because you know I'm hurt?" He was questioning her, anger was in his voice. She started to cry, knowing that he was upset with her. He turned around and started to open up the door. "Just go home and leave me be." It was then he heard metal clatter against the floor. He felt arms wrap around him from behind, his eyes widened.

"I know your hurt, I know that you can't be who you were before, but at least know who I am. What I am." She said in between sobs. He felt his shoulder tingling a bit then felt Artemis let go of him, then fall to the floor. She was unconscious. He quickly opened the door then picked her up, carrying her inside. He bought her to his bedroom and laid her down on his bed.

After grabbing his sword from outside his apartment door, he returned to Artemis. He took off his red coat, rolled up his sleeve and saw that there was no gash. Not even blood. Just a thin line of new flesh, a scar. He sat down on the bed next to her, reaching to take a stray lock of hair off of her face. Had he really become cold? The answer to that question, he knew, was yes. He looked at her, beauty didn't have anything on her.

"_It's not polite to stare you know." _It had been a long time since she spook to him like that. He saw her smile.

"It doesn't matter." he leaned over her putting his right arm on one side of her. "As long as you forgive me." He started to lean ever further.

"I do." She whispered. "I always have." He leaned in and kissed her on her lips. It was like fireworks going off in her head. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She giggled a little when he fell down beside her.

"I do need you. Like the sun needs the moon." Her eyes were getting stronger with Mako, but it made them more beautiful. "I need your innocence, more importantly, your heart." He reached out and put his bare hand on her face.

"You've always had my heart, from the moment I first saw you." she was right, he was the first person she had ever seen in her life. "I've given you everything I could possibly give you, to the best of my ability." She put her hand over his. "I'm never giving up on you." She began to undo his shirt. Was she ready for what she was about to do? Without a doubt.

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Morning came early, even for Genesis. For once, he was where he wanted to be. He had taken innocence away from Artemis, or did he? She gave it to him, as a gift, and he wouldn't take it for granted. She was still sleeping in his arms, peacefully. She now knew what it felt like to be human. Something he wasn't sure he was anymore. It didn't matter now, he was here.

"Good morning." He heard her say sleepily. He leaned down to kiss her.

"Morning."

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That last part was awkward and unexpected, but I couldn't think of anything else to write…honestly. It's not that I'm running out of ideas…it's just that I had to end the chapter on a good note instead of a bad one. Well, at least you see how our buddy, Genesis is changing in attitude. Even though I had to make time go by. I surprise myself all the time.

Michiyo

PS: if anyone could help me out with materia (I forgot since I haven't played the game in….years.) I would really love it.


	5. Pain

-1AN: Okay, this chapter might be a little predictable….or maybe not….since I don't know what my brain comes up with most of the time…if it sucks…it sucks…nothing I can do about it…It's fan fiction, so I'm allowed to use different scenarios. Trust me, this chapter gets kinda sad…and things begin to fall into place. It may seem like things are happening fast, but that's the way I intend it to be, until later chapters. Another time gap in the first part…not a big one.

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Two months went by, though Artemis was doing okay, Genesis wasn't. He was slowly falling apart. His hair was turning grey, he wasn't feeling good, he started to get sick. The black wing he occasionally had, was now permanent or so Artemis believed. He had been going on more missions lately, matter of fact, she hardly ever saw him. When she did see him though, he wouldn't talk to her. Even on nights when they were together, he would just lye there, starring at the ceiling, this of course is after they had been 'together'. It was like he was slowly being taken away from her. She just didn't know what to do, so she would cry and cling to him as he just laid there.

Yet here she was sitting in his office, waiting for him to come back from the mission he had taken last week. When the door opened she expected to see him, but instead, standing there was a boy, no older than seventeen. He had blond hair that seemed to defy gravity, and crystal blue eyes.

"Ma'am, you wouldn't happen to be Ms. Artemis, would you?" The young woman nodded her head. He walked closer to the desk. "I was told to come get you."

"Why? What's wrong?" The boy didn't say anything, just walked out of the office. She followed the boy to the unknown destination. In the elevator she was curious to know his name and he replied. Cloud Strife.

"Artemis!" She turned around to see Valera running towards her, Reno, Elena, and Tseng following her. "Have they told you what's going on?" The younger woman shook her head. "We don't know either. It's an emergency meeting of some sort."

"Have you heard from Genesis?" Valera shook her head. Artemis' face went solemn. "He was supposed to be back by now."

"He might be at where we are headed. Come on." Artemis followed the others, catching sight of Angeal and Zack ahead of her.

"Angeal!" He turned and looked to her. "What's going on?" He grabbed her hand and brought her in the conference chamber.

"It's Wutai." He said to her in a low voice. She got the picture.

"Where is Genesis?" Angeal pointed to below, where the red coated SOLDIER was sitting. His wing standing out, since he probably didn't have the strength to make it disappear.

"The meeting is starting." She nodded. The whole time they were talking, all she did was stare into space. It seemed like hours went by, when only one had gone by.

"Artemis!" When she heard her name being called by Sephiroth, she stood up.

"Sir!" She stood up at attention, waiting for the reason she had been called on.

"Your job in this is to provide valuable information, by using your mind. Do you understand?" Genesis spoke. He looked strait into her eyes with a blank face.

"Yes Sir!" She said then sat back down feeling a little light headed. He noticed this, a look of concern flashed across his face in a brief flash.

"_I'm okay." _He heard her voice in his head while he went on explaining strategies. He knew from the beginning that he wasn't going to take part in this. He couldn't fight, but he could do something else.

After the meeting had ended, she stayed behind, waiting for Genesis to finish talking to a lower class SOLDIER. She stood a little out of the way, but not too far as to where he wouldn't notice her. He had finished talking and headed in her direction. She noticed how tired he was, quickly bridging the gap in between them, she hugged him tight. He responded by hugging her back, then he stepped away.

"Genesis, what's wrong?" He put his hand on her face and sighed. "Tell me."

"It's nothing." She started to feel light headed again. "Let's go home." She nodded.

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Artemis laid next to Genesis, who when reaching his bed, just collapsed. He was really that tired, so was she. She had been unable to get enough sleep lately, tossing and turning while horrible visions danced in her head. Some were of Sephiroth committing horrible acts, and some were of Genesis, where he was transforming into this gigantic armored beast. He was changing, yes, but what would he become? She had finally fallen into sleep curling up next to Genesis.

Yet more visions assaulted her, this time, some were horrifying.. She was watching a little girl play in a field of flowers, when Sephiroth came out of nowhere and killed her. She felt herself scream out. Only she realized that she was screaming in her sleep.

"Artemis!" She heard someone calling her, then shaking her. "Artemis! Wake up!" When she came to, she had tears in her eyes.

"He's going to kill her." She said frantically. Genesis was completely calm, and started to rub his ungloved hand on her back. She collapsed against him in tears.

"Who is going to kill who?" She just continued to cry into his chest.

"Our daughter." Genesis was shocked to here this. Daughter? This wasn't what he was expecting. "Sephiroth is going to kill her."

"Artemis, we don't have a daughter." She stopped crying and looked up at him, taking in the fact that his hair had grey here and there. It made him look distinguished. She sat up, taking his hand and put it on her belly.

"Yes, we do, she just isn't here yet." His eyes widened, it was a lot to take in. He turned away from her, putting his feet on the floor and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Genesis?"

"Now I know what I have to do, I can't let anyone stop me." She looked at his back, trying to figure out what he meant. "If I'm ever going to live to see my child, and protect her, I have to do something to help fight this degeneration." She crawled over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. She knew she was young, and was still innocent, but now she was going to give birth to a child. She didn't know how to raise a child, at least not by herself.

"What ever you do, I'll still be yours. I'll still stay with you. Even if we are apart." She said to him. He grabbed her hands and kissed them.

"I have to leave in two weeks." She looked at him confused. "I'm going to Wutai." She had forgotten about that. "You have to stay with Valera, she can help you." He took her arms from around his waist and stood, going to change into more comfortable clothes. She had noticed that his relationship with Angeal had become nothing to him. Was he falling away from her too?

"What are you planning?" She demanded the answer to the question, anger was present in her voice. "I've seen what your going to become. I know your falling." She stated.

"So what, you can't stop me." He just stood there, he hadn't even began to take off the clothes he had on. "You could try, but you wouldn't do much harm." There was malice in his voice. Something she now feared.

"I will try. Your putting people at risk!" She was getting closer to yelling at him. "Your putting me at risk. Is that what you want?!" He turned to look at her, his eyes glowing more than ever before with anger.

"I want you to stay! Don't try, cause if you do, I will kill you." It had started to rain outside, like the black sky was crying for her. Her heart was breaking.

"If that is what you want. Then do it." She looked at him in the eye and made herself clear. She was ready to die, even if her child would die with her. She would rather it not be born to this world where it's father was cruel. She watched as his shoulders slumped. "That's what I thought." She grabbed her jacket and left him, going to Valera's. She heard him yell from far away, she felt his power strengthen. She was scared, and she had every right to be.

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Valera was sitting on the couch watching TV, even though there was nothing on, she had to find something to do. She wasn't to happy about things that were going on in the world. It wasn't pretty. She was watching something about monsters when there was a knock on the door. Getting up from the couch she strode over to the door unlocking it. On the other side, was Artemis, soaking wet and crying.

"Oh Minerva, Artemis." The older woman took the crying girl into her arms. "What happened?" She guided Artemis over to the couch and sat her down. "Never mind, I'll get some towels and some dry clothes for you."

Fifteen minutes later, Artemis was dry and warm, but she was still upset. She just stared at the floor, her heart was broken now. All because of the man she loved. She knew he loved her, but he was going down the path she couldn't go on. Another wave of tears came and Valera sat next to her, hugging her.

"It's okay." Valera didn't know what happened, but what ever it was, she knew that the girl wouldn't ever recover from it. "Tell me what happened." She waited till Artemis calmed down.

"He isn't Genesis anymore, I don't know who he is." She held the blanket around her tighter. "He's going to turn into a monster and I can't stop him. I could try, but it would only hurt him more." Valera knew her words were true. "I'm pregnant, and my child's father is a monster." She started to cry again. The older woman was a bit shocked by that statement, because she had in raising that so called monster. Still, if Genesis was going out of his mind, then he deserved to be called a monster. She was close to falling asleep, so much crying took her strength, on top of that she had a child inside of her now.

After Artemis had fallen asleep in her bed, Valera, had gone to bed as well. Everything was quiet, except there was a figure in Artemis' room. It placed a letter on the pillow next to her, along with something else. Then it made a quick exit through the window without waking her up.

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Morning came and Artemis wasn't up for facing the day. She sat up in the bed, stretching, taking a deep breath, and then she laid back down. She turned on her side facing the window, then noticed something on the pillow next to her. The was a small velvet box sitting on top of a letter. She picked it up and read the letter first.

_Artemis, _

_I know I've hurt you, I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean the words I said, but what I'm going to do, is going to break us apart. You said to me a while back that you would stay with me no matter what. I need you to keep that promise for when I come back. I need you to stay by me, even if we are apart, to love me for what I was. If you do, I can come back to you. _

_I'm doing this for you, and the baby. Just don't stray. I've asked a friend to look after you, he will do just that. If he gets out of line, just tell him he's not going to live for long. Take care of yourself, and forgive me._

_I love you, _

_Genesis_

It was the first time he had ever said that, even if it was by a letter. Artemis felt herself start crying. She picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a necklace, it was silver and in the shape of a G clef. It was his promise that he was still there, just hidden.

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Three months had passed by in a crazy rush. Artemis had heard many reports of lower class SOLDIERS going MIA, and the President had personally told her that Genesis had gone AWOL. It was devastating. She had come close to miscarrying her child twice, and was currently on bed rest. Reno came over everyday to check up on her, but she was always asleep. Valera had told him that when she was asleep, she could contact anyone, anywhere, anytime. Was she trying to find Genesis? Valera knew the answer to that.

Then out of the blue, Zack Fair had come to see her. He told her that they fought against Genesis briefly, but he vanished soon after. He hadn't asked about her, from what Zack had told her. It made her want to go look for him even more. He then told her that he and Sephiroth were being sent out to find Genesis. Angeal wasn't going, come to find out, he was degenerating as well. Dr. Hollander had turned up missing, but it didn't concern her. It smelled of Genesis.

The months seemed to go on slowly, the child within Artemis, was preparing to come into the world. She was excited, but upset, because Genesis wasn't going to be here to see the birth of his child. She didn't care if he was bad or good, just as long as he cared. The answer she wanted, did happen.

On a cold night, Artemis gave birth to a girl, which she named Selene. A week after Selene was born, an unexpected visitor arrived.

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Genesis had snuck into Valera's apartment, he had heard of his daughters birth, and wanted to find out for himself. His hair was completely white, none of it's original color remained. He was working on getting everything back to normal. He now stood over the infant laying in the cradle. A head full of auburn hair, just like his. Artemis was sound asleep in her bed, but she knew he was here. Removing the glove on his right hand, he gently stroked his daughter's face with a his thumb. Minerva made the child beautiful.

"_Her name is Selene." _He turned to where Artemis lay. _"I know you're here, to see her." _She was still sleeping, but it was when she was asleep, where she could do things with her mind.

He didn't answer her, just stared at the infant. He would have to go soon, there were people looking for him, and he had to pay Hojo a visit. He leaned in and gave his daughter a kiss on the head, then went to her mother and kissed her as well. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, but fate had other ideas. Stopping at the cradle once again he placed his finger in the infants hand and felt her close it around her finger. At that moment, he felt an emotion he thought he would never feel again seep into his heart. Pure joy. It was there, just existing. He took his hand out of the infants grasp, then putting the glove back on, he prepared to exit through the window. He stopped to look back at his family. Then he was gone.

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Morning came again like it did every day, only there was a four year old out for attention, and it was also 6:30 am. This is what had Artemis on edge. Her daughter was demanding at only four years old, she was the child of Genesis Rhapsodos, so there could be no other explanation. Selene had not only inherited her father's hair color, but she inherited the Mako as well, her blue eyes were proof of that. The good thing was, Selene loved to hear her mother play the piano. That was how Artemis got her daughter to sleep at night. Sit at the piano and play something, it didn't matter what, as long as it was a piano. Of course, by now, Selene was already learning how to play herself.

"Mommy." Artemis opened her eyes at hearing the word 'Mommy'. It had become a daily routine for Selene to waltz in the room at 6:30 am and climb into bed with her. Then at 8:00, Artemis would get up, get dressed for work and kiss her sleeping daughter goodbye for the day.

"Come on kiddo." Artemis sleepily lifted the covers for Selene to climb into bed with her. They both fell asleep a few minutes later. Artemis felt that familiar presence in her mind, it was Genesis. He had learned how to use his own mind. He couldn't talk through it, but he could show emotion. What she was feeling from him wasn't normal, it was different. She couldn't place the name. He would come here every once in a while, but only at night, to see Selene. One night Selene had saw him and talked with him, but she never knew who it was until Artemis told her that it was her Daddy. Selene was able to get a black feather from him, to prove that it was indeed him. From then on, every time Genesis came, Selene would wake up to talk to him.

Selene was innocent, and didn't know about the horrific acts that her father was currently guilty of. All of it was for her though, even though if she were older, she would cut ties with him. Artemis should've cut ties with him, but she had hope that he could go back to being the man she loved. It was all she could hope for.

"Mommy?" Artemis was asleep but woke up a little to hear what her daughter had to say.

"Hmm?" Selene was fiddling with a string in the comforter.

"Will Daddy ever come back for good?" Artemis didn't know the answer to that. She came up with the best answer she could.

"He will if we want him too, even if we have to go all over the world to find him. He will come home."

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Ugh….that was not as long as I wanted it to be. I know, it looks a little over done, but it will get better, I promise. It was kinda predictable in the last part of this chapter, but in the next one, you will start to see the down sides of Genesis.

Michiyo.


	6. Tragedy

-1AN: I think this will be the last chapter for this story, but I'm not entirely sure. If it is, the sequel will pick up during FF7. Though it looks like I have to add to the actual story off FF7.

This may be a short chapter.

Another thing I would like to point out, is that Genesis isn't insane like Sephiroth, he is going after his own goals and is totally aware of what he is accomplishing. There, I just had to clear that up. One of my friends pointed out to me that Genesis went insane like Sephiroth. I proved him wrong. This goes for the game too.

WARNING!!

If you are faint of heart, please fast forward when it gets to sad for you. It has to go with the story, because the way I have it set up, is how Genesis grows evil.

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Artemis sat at the piano, playing a sad tune, waiting for her daughter to fall asleep. The rain was falling from the blackened sky, making everything seem dreary, but the little girl didn't care as long as she used her imagination. Few people knew of Selene's existence, just those who were close to Artemis. Zack and Angeal had been there the night the four year old was born, having witness it themselves proved something.

Every note played on the piano, the closer Selene was to falling asleep on the couch, and Artemis felt that tonight was going to be the last night for her daughter to see her father for a long time. It was a given, Zack had told her that he was going with Sephiroth to find him. The auburn haired man would have to stay away for a long time. Valera was currently visiting a friend in Kalm, so this gave Genesis time to stay, if he wanted to. When she got to the end of the piece she was playing she went over to her sleeping daughter, picking her up and bringing her to her room, which was Genesis' a long time ago.

Thankfully, Selene was put in her blue chocobo pajamas a while ago, after taking her bath. That left for the little girl to be tucked in and kissed goodnight. Artemis laid her daughter down in her bed, taking the covers out from underneath her and putting them over the little girl.

"Good night Sweetheart." The young mother kissed her daughter good night and left the room turning out the light. Glow in the dark stars were all over the walls and the window let in little light from the streets. The rain was still falling, but not as much as before, leaving patterns in the light. The little girl woke up when she heard tapping on the window. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked to see what it was.

The man outside the window, sitting on the fire escape, had auburn hair and a dark wing protruding from his left shoulder. He looked at the girl and she instantly unlocked the window. He crawled through the window, trying hard to not get his wing caught in it. He stood as soon as he was in the room.

"Now, that is getting harder to do every time." The little girl smiled knowing who was in the room with her. She went up to him hugging his leg as tight as she could, smiling. "Selene, your cutting off circulation to my leg." She stopped smiling and looked up at him, then let go of his leg. "Thank you."

"I knew you would come." He looked down at her, putting his hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit. "Mommy said something about you today. She thought I couldn't hear her, but I could." Selene said in her childish voice. "I missed you Daddy." He picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck, Genesis closed his eyes and hugged his daughter.

"I missed you too." He sat on her bed and let her go putting her next to him on the bed. "Have you been good lately?" She nodded tiredly, falling against him. He wrapped his left arm around her, looking down at the little girl. "Go to sleep. Your tired." She nodded as he let her go and she crawled over to her pillow, lying her head down on it as her father stood. He tucked her back in and gave her a kiss good night. He didn't notice the door opening behind him.

"Leaving so soon?" he turned around to see Artemis leaning against the door frame. She had a slight look of anger in her eyes. He knew she was angry at him still.

"I have to go, or they will find me." She walked over to him and stopped right in front. Anger in her eyes, she slapped him. Hard.

"You think everything will be alright if you run away." He stared at her in shock. She turned and left the room. He just stood there, staring at her retreating form. He finally willed up the courage to go after her.

"Yes, I do." He followed her into the living room, where she stood with her back to him, but he could tell she was fuming with anger towards him. "What else do you want from me?" He started to get angry himself. The last time he was angry like this, he had summoned Bahamut and fought against Angeal, right after destroying some of Hojo's lab. Zack took care of the summon before it could do any damage to Midgar. "Do you want me to stay? Or do you want to go with me? The answer to both of those is no. If I stay, I will die, and if you go with me, you will die." He was almost yelling at her. "Yes, I've thought about you so much, but I can't be here with you. I'm just lucky enough to come every now and then to see Selene." She turned around to meet his gaze. Her eyes had softened.

"I'm thankful for that." Tears started to fall from her eyes. He found himself wanting to hold her all the sudden, but he restrained himself. He couldn't taint her anymore. "I'm happy because my daughter knows who her father is, and she sees the good in him. The person I knew a long time ago." He felt regret fill his heart. He walked over to her sobbing form and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his hands in her hair. Minerva, he missed her. He took in the scent of her hair and the feel of her heart beating against his chest. He broke the hug, then lifted her chin up took look in her eyes. She didn't avoid, just closed her eyes as he kissed her. He broke the kiss and held her.

"It is because of you, that I'm not insane, like Sephiroth." Her eyes widened when she heard this. She let go of him and stepped back. She didn't work for Shinra anymore, so she didn't know much. "No body told you about Nibbelhiem?" She shook her head. "Sephiroth destroyed it." Her eyes widened and her hand shot over her heart. "He may be still alive, so be careful. Don't let Selene go outside by herself." He walked past her to the door leading out of the apartment. "I have to go. Good bye." He opened the door.

"I love you." he stopped, turning his head to look over his shoulder.

"I love you too." She smiled then watched the door close behind him. She turned around and went to her daughters room, gathering the little girl up in her arms, and retreating to her room where she placed the sleeping girl on the bed. The young mother then held her daughter close to her, falling asleep.

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It had been three weeks since Genesis had left. Artemis held Selene's hand as the walked through the market place. Selene stayed right next to her mother because of the strange looks that people were giving her. Artemis noticed this, knowing that she could lop anyone's head off in a blink of an eye with her bow. She was always prepared, waiting for someone to even touch her daughter, so she could lodge a black feathered arrow into their bodies.

The two walked into a store that sold produce and fresh cut meat. Artemis, let her daughter pick out a few apples and some onions, putting them in the small basket her mother held. Selene saw something she really wanted. It was a peach. She loved peaches. Artemis nodded, and the little girl grabbed three of them and put them in the basket.

"Mommy, can I go look at the flowers?" Artemis watched as her daughter put on a cute face, it worked on her.

"Yes, but do not leave the store. Understand?" the girl nodded listening to her mother. Selene walked over to where the flowers were, while her mother talked to the butcher about getting meat. Selene looked at the pretty white and yellow lilies that were in the bucket on the floor. It was as if they were there to be forgotten. It didn't matter, she liked them, and wanted one. She saw a speck of black floating in the breeze just outside the door. It was a feather.

"Daddy?" She went outside and followed the black feather thinking it was her father. The auburn haired child walked down the street following the feather, to where she saw a man with silver hair and a black wing protruding from his right shoulder. It wasn't her father, he had a wing on his left side. "Excuse me!" the man turned around. "Do you know where I can find my Daddy?" The man just stared at the little girl, her eyes were familiar to him.

Sephiroth knew those eyes, they were the same as Genesis'. Only more innocent. He wanted Genesis to come out of hiding, so he could kill him, while he was still weak. Sephiroth knew just how to do that. He didn't care if what he was about to do was heartless, and horrifying, or if there were people watching. He pulled out the Masamune, the girls eyes widened, the blade was the last thing she would ever see in this world again.

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In the store, Artemis was getting everything she needed, she had to find out where her daughter was. Hopefully, Selene was still by the flowers, Artemis didn't really feel like playing hide and go seek today. She had paid for everything, then went over to the flowers not finding a trace of her daughter. Worry had begun to fill her veins. Something wasn't right, she felt it. She felt a presence that she knew was evil by all means.

Artemis used her mind to locate her daughter, but didn't get a reply. Then she heard a woman's scream from a little ways away. Dread filled her heart as she dropped the basket on the floor and took off running to where she heard the scream. Her heart stopped when she saw what was on the ground when she got there.

A child laid on the ground face down, a pool of blood around the child. Artemis didn't care if she got blood on her pants or anything, she wanted to know who the child was. She ran over to the child noticing the clothes on the body. A yellow shirt and jeans, with a white ribbon in her hair. Artemis picked up the child and held her in her arms, it was Selene. The lifeless child was her daughter, and she cursed Sephiroth to hell as tears came. She let out a scream that echoed for miles, even in the minds of people around the planet. It was something no mother should ever have to see. The women around her just stared on in fright as a blood soaked Artemis stood, eyes in cat slits, still blue. Rain started to fall out of the blue, lightening flashed in the sky above everyone. Things were lifting off the ground, flying everywhere, people were screaming. They were trying to get away from the enraged woman, but it didn't work, many were the targets of her rage. Artemis had no idea what she was doing, something took over her.

Frightened people ran everywhere as a wave of psychic power hurled them into buildings and other objects. Destruction was everywhere, and no one could stop her. She didn't feel the sting at the back of her neck, but she didn't notice that she had blacked out either.

Reno picked the unconscious woman up from the ground, leaving a few lower class SOLDIERS to retrieve the body of Selene. Reno didn't want to do this to the woman, but he had no choice, it was either shoot her with a tranquilizer dart or watch her tear Midgar apart in her rage. He had seen what had caused her rage. He would be the same way if his daughter were killed by Sephiroth. He would hunt the bastard down. Genesis would be enraged to hear that his daughter was killed by his rival and Reno didn't want to be the one to tell him if he ever came back.

It looked like no body was dead, but a lot of people were hurt. Reno guessed that Artemis would have one hell of a headache when she woke, if she ever wanted to wake up ever again. He walked over to the helicopter with Artemis in his arms, he promised Genesis he would take care of her, and he would be killed for doing what he was about to do. He knew that the scientists would take her and put her back in a test tube, to utilize her 'new' power, but if it helped her to find him, he would do it.

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Genesis stood on a cliff, looking over Midgar. Things were busy down there, but he couldn't get the scream he had heard out of his head. He knew it was Artemis. He wanted answers, what had happened? Yet he had received word somehow from someone that Angeal was around.

"I knew I would find you here." Genesis turned around to see his child hood friend. "You look better than you did a few years ago." Angeal wasn't looking young anymore. His hair was as white as snow, and he had changed his wardrobe.

"What happened to Artemis?" Angeal took a deep breath and then let it out. "I heard her screaming a week ago, then I felt her power grow." What Angeal was about to tell him was going to send the man out on the deep end.

"It was Sephiroth, he killed Selene." Genesis stood there in silence. Angeal didn't know what to do, and felt it wise to leave the auburn haired man to himself. "I will leave you to your thoughts."

Genesis knew that Angeal had left him there, he felt rage and anger fill him up. He had hated Sephiroth already, but now, his hatred wasn't only for Sephiroth now. It was for Shinra. Shinra had created Sephiroth, and himself. They were monsters. He was to the point of hating everyone. He balled up his fists, yelling out his daughters name, then taking off into the air. He would never be seen again.

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Artemis opened her eyes, finding herself submerged in water with a tube going down her throat. No. This was where she had started out. She started to panic, being enraged again. The glass started to crack and lights flickered. She wanted out and by Minerva, she would have her freedom back. The glass shattered letting her have her freedom once more, the scientists in the room watched as the glass shards rose up and shot towards them, injuring them. She removed the tube from her throat and walked out of the lab naked. She wanted her bow.

After finding some clothes she walked down the halls looking for someone to beat up, and so she could get her bow. She was going home after that. She remembered everything, and she was going to hunt Sephiroth down.

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Artemis stood on the cliff overlooking Midgar, she was dressed in black pants with knee high combat boots fit for her and a tight fitting black shirt. She had a backpack stuffed with everything she needed from home. Her bow, Diana, hung folded up at her hip. She had plenty of arrows, enough to last her a year. All of them were black feathered. She was going to hunt down her daughter's killer, and find Genesis, if she had to travel the world.

"Goodbye Midgar. I hope you rot in hell one day." She said and turned away walking from the cliff, she was turning her back to her old home. Cursing it.

TO BE CONTINUED IN FINAL FANTASY VII.

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I know it was short, but that concludes Innocence. I haven't figured out a title fro the next story, but all I know is that it takes place at the beginning of FF7...after they blow up some reactors.

Thank you to all my sweet and loyal reviewers.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Stay tuned…the next story is longer.

Michiyo


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